Miss Manners I am sorry that I have ruined all the lakes in Texas .First lets get one thing straight I catch and release about 95 percent of the time.So it mostly does'nt affect me. The people who know me are laughing their head off at you because what you are saying about me is funny and no one takes and cares about the lakes more than I do. All I said it is against the state law to clean fish on your boat. It is not against the law to clean fish and throw them in the lake. I have seen a couple of places that TWrd has signs telling you not to do it. At the place I fish it is a big cleaning station and I dare one to find 1 peice of fish remains 2 minutes after cleaning is complete.
I have seen couple of signs about not dumping fish in the lake and I certainly would not do it but that does not make it against the state law.I have seen signs not to put them in the dumpster. If you see a no parking sign in a certain area it does not make it against the law to park your car anywhere.
I am also sorry to tell there are only a few lakes in Texas that are owned by TRWD.I am also sorry to see people who disagree with you the best you can do is call them names and talk about them personnaly about how sorry they are. At least you did'nt talk about my Mother.
Have a good day and I promise not to ruin any lake you fish in just hope you can say the same thing.
Johnny
PS . We have beat this dead horse enough. I am not going to change your mind and you are not going to change mine.I will not continue went it gets personal and a name calling contest.

Amen.

I love going to lake Pat Cleburne to fish, and the boatramp is very nice for loading and unloading my boat. BUT, THEY HAVE THESE DUMPSTERS THERE THAT ARE FULL OF FISH REMAINS. Talk about a STINKY MESS!!! I would rather people either clean their catch at home or dump the remains back into the lake. I clean my fish at the house, put the remains in a 5 gallon bucket, then put it in my deep freeze. When trash day comes around I bag it up and toss it in the trashcan. By the time the trashmen come along, it still hasn't thawed. But if people want to clean their catch at the lake and put it in the lake, then so be it. I would rather that happen than have to smell rotting fish and maggots when I am at the boatramp. FISH EAT DEAD FISH!!!!!!

...... Im' thinking some1 lives near a fish cleaning station in a small cove.... Evidently they havent smelled the dumpster at west bay marina on EM near the boat trailer parking... pretty ripe last weekend when I was there. Funny thing though.. I didn't smell anything when I went by the FISH CLEANING station at the Ft. Worth Anglers Club. I guess it was already shut down :P

Poor Johnny, I am speaking about the RC lake....only...And my buddy they do care about fish dumping and will issue fines, period and there are state laws about creating a nuisance and pollution. I am glad your not the polluter and care about our lakes. I don't know you, you are 100% correct, but you don't know me...I don't lie nor do I put things like this online with out checking out the facts...I never said all the lakes in texas...but there are rules that are related or the same...I treat all lakes with respect and people...But man you are wrong here, if I hurt your feelings I apologize. That really is not my intent. But there are many people who suffer from careless folks and they need to know they have a right to do something about that, no one should have there rights violated, even you, LOL...
But honey I know this as true. But we do practice a lot of the same right things too...But just know you are not right here...your right enough said. And I live off the big lake, and have used many diffrent cleaning station and admit that they don't all follow the rules and its up to us the folks on the lake to make it right. Again sorry for hurting your feelings.

your right proof reading is good and I should do more of it, as a typist I am not!

Has anyone actually tried to call and talk to the TPWD about this issue. Instead of bending and fabricating other statues to meet an individuals goal, one should check with those enforcing the law!!

Simply pick up the phone and call 1-800-792-1112 and hit option #4..

Then speak to a representative from TPWD, I don't know.. lets say "Major Alfanzo Compost" (I may have incorrectly spelled his name).

Then have him tell you that "There is no Law", saying you as an individual, cleaning your limit of fish, to prevent you from returning those remains to the body of water.

'There may be some local ordinance', but fish remains are not considered a pollutant! If there is no local ordinance, there there is nothing stopping a fisherman from being a total jerk and dropping those remains where someone people like to swim and play on public waters.

So if you live on R.C., and I pull up to shore near where you live, and I fillet my fish and throw the remains into the water (NOT on the land or ON the boat ramp) near where you live, then there is "No Law" preventing me from doing this. Even if 100 people did it before me, and the accumulated smelly mess makes it unsightly and uncomfortable, then as long as I am only cleaning my own fish, I can continue to discard the remains (THIS IS NOT TRASH or POLLUTION) it's simply disqusting and inconsiderate. Then the process would be to help get a local (I guess City) ordinance passed to stop the discarding of waste on your beach.

I have fished in many states, and I have always picked up a rules and regulations guide, as I frequently want to know if I can use a 60' long seine or 10' castnet (NOT in TEXAS). I have read in either Florida, Oklahoma, or California that it was against the law for someone to PREVENT you from returning the remains from cleaning your legal limit of fish to the water. I can't find it now, but I do recall how is was 'Worded or Phrased" so odd.

TRWD does have some jurisdiction. They are the owner's of the lake, property under the lake and some surrounding real estate. As a water control district they have created general ordinances to protect the water supply. The ordinance doesn't outlaw returning the carcasses to the water but does have a provision that it can fine and prosecute for "nuisance" or "pollution". Per the ordinance they can employ or contract with a licensed peace officer to enforce. I don't think dumping the carcasses at least 1000 ft from the shore would cause a problem, but if you were caught dumping in a cove, shallow or near a boat ramp you could be in trouble. Of course, the district or prosecuting authority would have to carry the burden of proof.

Fisherman's Point never was real bad(not saying it was pretty) until the lake level dropped and the water level receded past the cleaning station- then it got to be a real problem. Still, IF you're gonna return the carcasses to the water, just be courteous and put them at least a 1000 ft OR MORE from shore and somewhere were the remains won't cause anyone any grief. Unfortunately, if people continue to dump carcasses there(Fishermans Point), the operators of the station may make it off limits or close it down because they will get fined as well.

I too think this horse is quite dead but I still see the comment of taking the carcasses 1000' feet out. I'm not a brain surgeon but can someone tell me the differnce between cleaning a fish on the boat (illegal) as opposed to taking carcasses that were cleaned on shore back out to dump? I would think you are going to have a hard time splaining to lucy that those were not cleaned on the boat. You have no way to prove that (even if you leave the fillets on the shore). I've seen plenty of threads where when the game warden has no proof that what looks like something illegal is really not illegal, a ticket is coming your way. Bottom line: dont have carcasses on the boat. No carcasses = no crime.

Maybe I didn't make it clear.. I had just gotten off the phone (at 9:03am) with "Major Alfanzo Compost" of the TPWD Law enforcement division, and asked him that question, and even phrased it several different ways. Anywhere in the water, you can discard the carcuses.

However, I agree that doing it in deeper water would be more considerate, and I for one would like to be known as a good 'Stewart' of the lake.

It is very difficult to find a place to clean your fish on Texoma, and in the past I enjoyed cleaning the fish, while the boat is beached on the sand near the ramp, trowing the remains directly behind the boat, and when I am done, starting up the motor and giving it some thrust to push those remains out to slightly deeper water and further from shore (but not 1000' ).

Funny you should ask, because I asked a very similar question to Officer Compost. You can gut, and bleed the fish, but the fillet must remain on the fish, so they can confirm that the fish was of legal harvest. I questioned about butterflying the fillet so it is only attached to the carcus by the skin, but I think I confused him.. as he repeated that the fillet must remain on the fish.

If cleaning the fish on the boat and you have the fillets on the boat, then in Texas (you can clean fish in the boat on the Oklahoma side...unless that recently changed) there is no way for them to associate that fillet, with that carcus (unless they did some expensive genetic testing.."he didn't say that"). So assume that if you are returning the carcuses to deeper water, leave the fillets in the truck on Ice, and not on the boat with you.

I bet Texoma is interesting, because on the Oklahoma side of the lake, you can clean (unless that recently changed) your fish while out on the water.

Transporting the fish remains on the water, may not be illegal..it's the good part (fillets) that can get you into trouble.

I've been with a guide on Texoma who cleans the days catch inside his boat house (Texas side) and throws the remains right in the water. You'd think that a professional would be aware of any rule prohibiting this.

Guides do the same thing on the Oklahoma side too.....

Keystone, look what you started!!

Please! This is supposed to be a happy occasion. Let's not bicker and argue over who killed who.

Practise catch and release and don't have to worry about the fish guts.